Apparatus for clinching lift levers to cans



Dec. 17, 1940. 1 CARD 2,225,549

APPARATUS FOR CLINCHING LIFT LEVERS TO CANS Dec. 17, 1940. J, L. CARD APPARATUS FOR CLINCHING LIFT LEVERS TO CANS 4 s Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 17, 1940.A J Q CARD 2,225,549

APPARATUS FOR CLINCHING LIFT LEVERS TO CANS Filed April 4, 193e s sheets-sheet 5 Patented Dec. 17, 1940 PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR CLINCHING LIFT LEVERS T CAN S John L. Card, Baltimore, Md., assignor to Federal Tin Company, Inc., Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Maryland Application April 4, 1938, Serial N0. 200,031

9 Claims.

The present invention is an apparatus for clinching lift levers to the rims of, socalled, plug-top covers for cans, but may be' useful for other analogous purposes.

Plug-top covers, for cans or other similar receptacles, usually designate a relatively flat cover having an up-standing perimetral rim or ilange, which latter is to frictionally engage the edges of an opening in a receptacle whereby it is tightly held in closed position. The rim 0f the plugtop covers may be somewhat outwardly flared with respect to the body of the cover and have their upper edge rolled or crimped to provide a nished edge. It is often difficult to remove these plug-covers without the aid of some implement to pry between the rolled, beaded, or crimped edge of the cover rim and the container, and often such an implement is not readily at hand.

To facilitate the easy removal of such covers, as above mentioned, a lift lever isused and sold with the can. Such lift levers are frequently not made a permanent part of the can or cover, and frequently become lost by becoming disen- 25 gaged from the cover.

The object of the present invention is to provide means to permanently attach a lift lever to the plug-cover, particularly that type of lift lever shown and described in a United States Letters 30 Patent reissue No. 18,447, said means being simple and positive in its operation and capable of continuous operation for mass production.

'Ihe invention further resides in whatever is shown, described, and claimed, and particularly 35 in the sundry details of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, as will hereinafter more specifically appear.

In the drawings, which show the preferred embodiment of the invention, as now devised,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus mentioned above, certain parts being broken away to illustrate the manner in which the lift levers are fed and applied to the plug-cover;

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the apparatus as shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken substantially on line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view of a portion of Fig. 1 showing the other position of the lift lever feeding means;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective v1ew of the means for stopping or arresting the plugcovers in the position in the machine for having a lift lever attached thereto;

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of the feeder and I a part of its operating means; and

Fig. 7 is a view illustrating a plug-cover having a lift lever attached thereto and which attachment was performed by the means of this invention.

The lift lever attaching means of the present invention consists of what I may term a clinching machine. 'Ihe'lift levers of the type used in the present machine are illustrated in Figs. 1, 4, and 7, and consist of a piece of metal, or other suitable material, bent upon itself at one end to form an open loop. The free end of the short legs of the loop forms an abutment to engage under ythe bead b of a plug-cover Cwhile the closed end of the loop forms a heel h which will engage and bear uponI the surface ofthe container, thereby enabling the lift lever L to pry or raise the plug-cover C from the opening in the container, when the other end of the lever is raised (see Fig. 7). In order to maintain these lift levers L on the plug-cover, an abutment I is provided to cooperate with the free end of the short leg s for retaining the parts together. The abutment I may be a lug struck from the lever at a point to lie adjacent the free end of the short legs of said loop and, when this lug I is moved or pressed toward the free end of the shortV leg s to cl-ose the space between it and said free end of the short leg s less than the diameter of the bead b on the plug top, it is loosely maintained in position on the latter against accidental loss or displacement.

The present clinching machine is designed to feed such lift levers I and plug-covers C to a clinching station, where the lug 1 lon the lift lever will be moved or placed about the beaded, rolled, or crimped rim 1' of the plug-cover.

To accomplish the above, the present clinching machine comprises a base or bed III to which plug-covers C are fed by any suitable conveying means such as an endless belt I I (Figs. 2 and 3). 'Ihe covers C, which are delivered onto the bed l0, abut each other and in this way are fed forward by the on-coming covers on the moving belt II, said covers being guided over the bed I by guides I2 and IZa. The guide I2a, is adjustable laterally through the medium of the bolt and slot connection I3 to accommodate the machine to diierent sizes of covers. Projecting,

preferably from one side of the bed Ill, is an eX-' tension I upon which is supported a frame I4 which overlies the bed Ill, said frame having a bracket extension I4a which is secured to the extension Ia by means of bolts I4b or other suitable means. The frame I4 is provided at its upper end with spaced bars I5, preferably extending longitudinally of the machine, and in which is journalled a drive shaft I5 operatively connected with a source of power in any suitable manner, not shown. The front vertical face of the frame I4 is provided with a guide-way I'I in which is disposed a vertically reciprocable crosshead I8. Opposite walls of the guide-way are preferably formed with V-shaped guide slots I'Ia for receiving a complemental vertical guide rib on the cross-head I8. One of the walls of the guide-way I'I having the slot I'Ia. therein is composed of an adjustable block I'Ib so as to maintain the cross-head in proper centered position and to take up for wear. The block I'Ib is held in position on the frame by bolt IIc and is rendered adjustable to the bolt IId.

The lower forward edge of the cross-heads I8 is provided with a projecting tool-holder I8a to which is secured a clinching die I9. The clinching die I9 is preferably disposed in an under cut rabbit in the projection I 8a and is secured thereto at one end by a bolt I9a, there being a bolt I9b in the upper ledge forming the rabbit which will bear upon the distal end portionof the die, permitting such vertical adjustment of the die as may be desired, it being understood, of course, as can be seen from Figs.

1, 2, and 4, that the operating die face is at the distal end of the die I9.

Positioned at one side edge of the bed ID and in cooperative opposed relation with respect to the outer end of the clincher die I9 is an associating member 20 carried on the distal end of an arm 2| keyed to a rocker shaft 22, preferably underlying the bed I0 with the arm 2I extending through a slot 23 in the bed I0. This member 20 is oscillated to and from the position shown in Figs, 1 and 2 through the medium of shaft 22 for associating the lift lever with a cover in the manner which will presently appear.

Arranged over the associating member 20 is a vertical chute 25 having the passage thereof of such dimensions as will permit the lift levers L to move therethrough in a lengthwise direction. To the upper end of the chute 25 may be suitably attached a magazine, not shown, or otherwise connected with a suitable source of supply of the lift levers, so that the same move through the chute 25 by gravity, one above the other in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1, the bottom of the chute being closed by the member 29 when the latter has fed the lift lever in position for the operation of the clinching die I9 as shown in Fig. 1. When the associating member 2li has been oscillated in a clockwise direction, as shown in Fig. 4, the lower end of the chute 25 is uncovered allowing one lift lever L to drop into position so as to4 be fed forward to the plug cover C and be operated upon by the clinching die I9. In order to prevent the remainder of the lift levers L from dropping when the associating member 20 is in the position shown in Fig. 4, an a-rm 24 is pro-v vided, pvoted in brackets 25.

The arm 24 has a loose pivotal connection, as at 21, with the associating member 20 and, when the latter is moved clockwise as shown in Fig. 4, a holding finger 28 on the arm 24 will be projected through a slot 25a in the chute 25 to contact the lift lever therein next from the bottom, thus holding all other lift levers except the lowest one in the chute against movement. By reason of the pivot connection 2l when the associating member is moved in an anti-clockwise direction and to the position shown in Fig, 1, the arm 24 will be operated to withdraw the locking finger 29 from the chute 25.

The surface of the associating member 20, which contacts and cooperates with :the lift levers L, is preferably fashioned in a manner the same as or similar to the contour of the lift levers s o as to give them substantial support during the associating movement and prevent their twisting or turning, as well as during the clinching operation.

Itis understood, of course, that the lift levers as supplied to the chute have the lugs Z struck out from the body thereof so that the loop ends of the lift lever may be placed, by the member 20, under the beaded edge b of the cover C with the lug overlying said beaded edge; and that it is the function of the clinching die I9 to move the lug Z toward the free end of the legs of the lift lever to embrace and loosely attach the lift lever on the rim edge of the cover C, as shown in Fig. 7. With this understood and with the assembly of the machine having been outlined above, the various parts of the machine are operated as follows:

The drive shaft I6 has keyed on its forward end a cam 30 which overlies and contacts with a roller 3| rigidly journalled in the cross-head I8. The formation of the cam 30 is such that upon each revolution of the shaft I6 the cross-head is reciprocated once, the downward movement of the cross-head being accomplished quite abruptly and quickly, the cross-head remaining in its downward position for about 60, more or less, of the movement of the cam and, then, being returned to its upper position by` compression spring 32 disposed in a recess on the underside of the cross-head and resting upon a ledge I4c on the frame I4 (see Fig. 3). Also keyed to the shaft I6 is a cam 33 on the surface of which, at diametrically opposite points, ride rollers 34 and 35, which rollers are journalled on a plate 36 having an elongated slot 3l therein surrounding the shaft I6 and by means o-f said slot reciprocates radially of the same. The plate 36 is connected by a'link 38 to the outer end of a lever 39 fast on the rocker shaft 22.

The cams 3l and 33 are so arranged that the cam 3I will effect the downward movement of the cross-head carrying the clincher die I9 when the member 20 is in the extreme-position of its associating movement, in which position the member 20 has carried the lift lever against the rim of the plug cover C and clamps the latter between it and the guide I2a, at the same time holding the lift lever in position for the lug l to be operated upon by the clinching die I9.

In order to align the plug-cover C in position to have a lift lever attached thereto a stop 40 is provided which engages preferably with the rear side of the plug-cover being advanced into position. This stop 4I] is carried on an arm 4I, having one end fast on a shaft 4Ia-journalled in a bracket 42 attached to one side of the base or bed I0. 1 The shaft 4Ia is actuated through a bell crank lever 43 pivoted on the bracket 42 and having one arm thereof arranged to engage a lug 4Ib keyed on the shaft 4Ia and its other end pvotally connected to the cross head I8, preferably, by means of a yolk43a surrounding ,a stud 44 on the crosshead. By vthis construction, the stop 40 is raised out of the plane of the plugcover C when the cross-head I8 is moved downwardly for the clinching operation; and itis preferredV that the cams 3|)V and" 33 be so timed as to allow the associating member 20 to move backwardly (or in clockwise direction) lto release the plug cover C while the clinching die i9 dwellsin its clinching position for about 60 of the movement of the cam 30.

During this time the stop 40 has been raised d out of the plane of movement. of the plug-covers 10 C, and the friction between theclinching die I9 and the lug l of the lift lever L is so slight that, with the associating member 20 moved backwardly to release the plug cover,` the friction between the plug-cover C on the Yconveyor is suf- 15 ficient to cause thelatter to abut and'move the covers C on. the bed l forwardly, therebyV advancing the cover, to which a lift lever has just been applied, outfof the machine and moving the next cover C to clinching station so as` to have a 20 lift lever applied thereto. v,

, Bythis time, the, crosshead I8 has started to move upwardly causing the stop 40 to be moved in the plane of the cover being advanced in position for clinching operation, The rear inner side 25' of the rim r of said cover C will strike the` stop 4l), thus algning the cover in proper position for the clinching operation. After the cover has been so stopped and aligned, and inthe meantime a lift lever L having dropped from the chute 25 30 infront of the associating member 20, as shown in Fig. 4, the member 20 will be moved toward the cover C (or in an` anti-clockwise direction) placing the lift lever in position with respect to the beaded edge b at the rim of the cover, as shown 35 in Fig. 1 following which the crosshead will move the clincher die I9 downwardly for a distance sufcient to bend the lug l of the lift lever so as to clinch the latter about the bead b of the plugcover C. After this operation the cycle above 40 described is repeated.

In order to accommodate the stop 40 to plug covers of different sizes the lever 4| is adjustable along the shaft Maby means of a set screw 45 and the stop may be adjustable longitudinally of 45 the lever 4I, such as through means of an elongated longitudinal slot Mc in said lever through which a reduced shank of the stop 40 extends and isheld in position by a nut Md threaded on said shank, see Fig. 5.

c 50 Having thus describedthe invention and the manner in which same is to be performed, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the exact detailsv of construction, combination, and parts herein described because the 55 same may be varied and modied in numerous ways and incorporate other embodiments which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

That which is claimed ls: i 1 In a machine for applying lift levers to the (50 rolled or beaded edges of plug caps useful for closing containers and wherein each lift lever` includes a handle portion having two spaced abutments disposed near an end and laterally thereof, one of said abutments being a lug adjacent the G other of said abutments to cooperate Ytherewith for attachment to the rim edge of the cover lying between said abutments, said machine comprising means for feeding capsto a clinching station, meansfor feeding one lift lever at a time to the I o clinching station and presenting the lift lever to the cap with the rolled rim edge of the cap extending between said abutments, a reciprocable clinching die at said station for bending said lug abutment toward an opposing portion'of said rim 75 edge for a distance to loosely confine the rolled portion of the rim edge between said abutments so` that the lift lever is'pivotally attached to the rim of the cap.

2'. In a machine for applying lift levers to the rolled or beaded edges of plug caps useful for 5 closing containers and wherein each lift lever includes a handle portion having one end bent upon itself toform an open loop having spaced legs and the handle portion further having a lug thereon .beyond the free end of one of said legs of the loop and extending laterally therefrom and adjacent the free end of said leg of the loop to cooperate therewith when said lug is bent toward said free end of said leg of the loop with the rim edge of the cover. between it and the free end of said leg of the loop, said machine comprising means for feeding one lift lever at a time to the clinching station with said lever lying in a plane at right angles to the principal plane of the cap and presenting the lift lever to the cap with the rolled edge of the cap extending between said lug of the lever and the open loop end of the lever, reciprocable clinching means at said station and moving in a plane at substantially right anglesto the lug for bending the lug toward an opposing portion of the rimedge for a distance to loosely conne the rolled portion of said rim edge within the loop between said lug and said free .extremity-of one leg of the loop so that the lift lever is povotally attached to the rim of the cap.

3. In a machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein thereis means for timing said feeding means to feed a lift lever into position relative to said cap when the clinching die is out of its effective clinching position.

4. In a machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein there is means for timing said feeding means to feed a lift lever into position relative to said cap when the clinching die is out of its effective clinching position and for maintaining the feeding means in its extreme feeding position during the clinching operation to support the lift lever in its fe'd position.

5. In a machine for applying lift levers to the rim edge of plug covers for containers, magazine means for intermittently delivering levers one at a time to feeding position, means for feeding plug covers to a clinching station, a reciprocating clinching die at said station for bending a lug projecting from the lift lever about a portion of the plug cover rim, and means for feeding one lift lever at a time from feeding position to the edge of said cover at said station including a member to associate them with the bendable lug or proj ection thereon in position, to be operated upon by said clinching die, when said clinching die is out of its effective operating clinching position, said cover feeding means including a guide for guiding the covers to the clinching station, and said associating member having a to and fro movement, and being arranged to grip a cover between it and said guide when the associating member is in its extreme associating position and during the clinching operation.

6. In a machine for applying lift levers to the rim edge of plug covers for containers, means for feeding plug covers to a clinching station, a reciprocating clinching die at said station for bending a lug projecting from the lift lever about a portion lof the plug cover rim, and means for feeding one lift lever at a time from feeding position to the edge of said cover at said station to associate them with the bendable lug or projection thereon in position to be operated upon by said clinching die, when said clinching die is out of its eiectvepperating clinching DOSiOn; means Yfor limiting the Amovementof--the cover fedto the clinching station, said limiting means reciprocating clinching die at said station for bending-a lug projecting from the lift lever about a portion of the plug cover rim, and means for vfeeding one lift lever atia time from feeding position* to thegedge of said cover at said station to associate them with a'bendable lug or projection thereon in position to be operated upon by said clinching die, when said cliiching die is out of its effective operating clinchingv position, means for limiting the movement of the coverfed into y the clinching station, said `limiting means comprising a stopmember adapted to engage the rim of the cover`v and raised `out of the plane of theA cover after the clinching operation and moved downwardly into the plane of vsaid cover when the clinching die is retracted from the clinching position, whereby ther-cover feeding means will advance the next succeeding cover' to the clinching station after each clinching operation. n

8. In a machine forapplyinglift. levers to .the

rim edge of pluvgfcovers-for containers,magaaine vmeans nforintermittently deliveringleversvon'e at v a time toy feeding position,means for feeding plug covers to av clinching station,l a lreciprocating clinching die at saidstation for bending a lug projecting from a lift lever about a portion of the plug cover rim, and lmeans for feeding one lift lever at a time from feeding position to the edgezof said cover at said station including a member to-associate them with the bendable lug or projection thereon lin position to be operated upon by'said elinching die, when said clinching die is out of its effective operating clinching position, lsaid magazine means comprising a vertical chute overlying said associating member'and normally closed b-y the latter when the same is in its extreme articleassociating position; an oscillatory nger arranged to be moved inand out of said chuteV by the movement of "said associating member for holding all the articles in said chute except-the last against further movement in said chute, when said associating member uncovers thebottom of said chute. 1

9. In a machine as 'set forth in `claim 1 further characterizedl bya magazine comprising a chute through :which 'the yliitl'evers 'are fed end to end to lsaid'lever feeding means; and said lever feed-` ing vmeans including a member forassociating a lift lever with apap and'normally closing the end of said' chute,` Whenfinits associating position,

and"` uncovering 'the end okf` said chute;- when ,movedfrom its` associated positiongfor permitting one of "said leversfto ,drop into position to be 5 lmoved in associated position withzsaid pover. Y

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